OTTAWA, ONTARIO (July 25, 2006) – The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is pleased to announce the films that have been invited to compete in this year’s 30th anniversary event. From the 1,947 entries received, 106 films representing 20 countries have been chosen for Official Competitions. An additional 31 films will be shown in out-of-competition Showcase screenings. The 2006 edition of the annual OIAF runs from September 20 – 24 in Ottawa, Ontario.

“A number of new films were completed just in time for the OIAF deadline and suddenly we had one of our strongest competitions in recent years,” says OIAF Artistic Director, Chris Robinson. “Alongside some stunning new work from young animators out of France, England and Germany, we received some strong films by veteran voices like Andreas Hykade (a three time OIAF Grand Prize winner), Michaela Pavlatova, JJ Sedelmaier, Georges Schwizgebel, Run Wrake and Joanna Quinn. The result is a rather dazzling blend of funny, poignant, angry and, as always, provocative films that are sure to appeal to a wide range of tastes.”

This year’s short film competition features some impressive new films including:

Joanna Quinn’s hilarious ode to film-making, ‘Dreams and Desires,’ which won the Grand Prize at both the Annecy and Zagreb festivals earlier this year;

‘The Carnival of the Animals,’ a delightful musical erotic fantasy by Michaela Pavlatova;

The Canadian premiere of ‘Rabbit,’ Run Wrake’s magical adult fairytale;

Four people recount their first – and very different – sexual experiences in ‘Never Like the First Time’ by Swedish animator extraordinaire Jonas Odell.

Prizes will be awarded to each category winner and a Grand Prize will be awarded in the Short Film, Student and Commissioned Animation competitions. The Festival will have two international juries: Bruno Bozzetto (Italy), Arnaldo Galvão (Brazil) and Jonathan Hodgson (United Kingdom) will oversee the Feature Animation, School and New Media Competitions. Konstantin Bronzit (Russia), Rob Coleman (Canada) and Jeff Scher (USA) will judge the Independent, Student and Commissioned Competitions. A jury of local children will judge the films in the Kids Competition categories.

The Ottawa International Animation Festival is the largest festival of its kind in North America and one of the most respected animation festivals in the world. Bringing art and industry together, the Festival attracts production executives, artists, students and animation fans from across Canada and around the world. The 2006 OIAF will be held September 20-24 in Ottawa. For further information regarding the Festival, please visit our website at www.animationfestival.ca or call 613-232-8769.